AGING POPULATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: CASE STUDY OF SINGAPORE

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between population aging and economic growth in Singapore from 1990 to 2010. In the next two decades, Singapore is expected to undergo rapid aging population. With changing profile of the population and particularly the labour force, competitiveness of Singapore may be affected. Despite popular belief that aging retards economic growth, there is weak empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. Our results show that aging can result in lower technical efficiency. However, greater training and educational attainment of the labour force can help mitigate the negative effects.